Sermon Central
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Truth Be Told
Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Oct 23, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: You can speak the truth without love and it is still truth though offensive, but love without truth is deceit, not love.
Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Truth must be spoken and it must be in love though at times delivering loving truth may be harsh or seem harsh to the hearer. Paul wrote this passage by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and yet there are things he wrote that appear harsh by our current standards.
The prophets of the OT did not mince words or use political correctness. Yet, they spoke truth because they loved God and represented Him so they delivered the message as it was given.
Many things that I wrote as an IFB I would change the tenor of my message but I would not change the content. Others were the right tenor for the context so I would change nothing.
No matter how some truth is delivered if it is truth and the intent is redemptive then a mature Christian will overlook the delivery and major on the truth. An unbeliever or immature Christian may major on the delivery and miss the truth completely.
Some will be offended. Wesley believed that true preaching would result in salvation or anger among the hearers and he was a very gentle man often being kinder to his critics then I may have been. Yet he once asked a woman for her scissors after she adjusted his tie to what she felt was the proper length. When she asked why he informed her that her tongue was too long and needed to be trimmed.
We need to receive truth as coming from the love of God even if the messenger is a bit rude in speech like they said of Paul. We should not sugar coat it nor should we be unnecessarily rude and crude calling it boldness. Let the speaker be sure to deliver it as God would have it delivered yet we must not discount truth just because we do not like the delivery boy.
Some will receive this and others will be offended thinking me harsh or conversely some will consider me a coward for not taking a bolder stand. Wesley would say I succeeded, but what really counts is what God thinks not any man or woman. May He approve this message. Maranatha!
